


When in Lapland...

by BexVanity



Category: Emmerdale, vanity - Fandom
Genre: F/F, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Themes, Vanity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:07:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 17,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28290642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BexVanity/pseuds/BexVanity
Summary: When Charity accidentally knocks out Santa Claus on Christmas Eve; she and Vanessa must deliver gifts around the world in order to save Christmas...
Relationships: Charity Dingle/Vanessa Woodfield
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1.

The full moon shone proudly in the sky after another beautiful day of twinkling stars and lights in Lapland. The time was nearing midday and the sun had already risen and set for the day in this particular Christmassy region. Charity and Vanessa had taken Johnny and Moses for five fun-filled days in Lapland, Finland. Though December 24th had come around quickly, and they were all now ready to head home; to be in bed early on Christmas Eve night. They had spent the last few days trying out snowboarding, sleigh rides and of course meeting Father Christmas himself. At the airport, the departure lounge began to fill up with other families who were ready to take their own flights home, to wherever in the world they may live, while Charity sat up against the window with her iPad, where a single bar of Wi-Fi flickered upon its screen. Noah and Sarah had decided they were too old for building snowmen and visiting Santa Claus and were being trusted to stay home and take care of themselves and the house while the rest of the family were away. And though they would be missed, both mums knew that the teenagers would be better off at home in the warm with their endless phone data coverage and Xbox than traipsing around behind two five-year-olds in the snow, moaning about minus six-degree weather. The familiar sound of the facetime ringtone jingled as Charity finally managed to get through to Jacob’s Fold. After a few seconds, two pixelated faces appeared on the screen with a clear lag of time difference as Noah and Sarah spoke without their lips moving. “Hi” Charity chirped, happy to see that for the fifth day in a row the teenagers were still alive and well, and the house was still standing and had not burnt to the ground or been flooded. “You okay? We’re just at the airport now, say hi boys” Charity added, as Johnny, Moses and Vanessa appeared behind her on the screen, waving cheerily to their family back home. “Yeah, we’re ok, be glad to have you back. We’re actually getting bored of having pizza for tea every night” Sarah told. “Speak for yourself” Noah argued, nudging his niece playfully. “Awh, we won’t be long. The flight has been delayed for a few minutes due to a strong gust of wind blowing in, but other than that everything has gone to plan so far.” Vanessa explained as she took a glimpse out of the window to see trees swaying rather violently in the distance. “How long is your flight this time?” Sarah asked. “Only three hours, we managed to book a nonstop flight home so we won’t have to stop over anywhere in Europe. We should touchdown in Manchester at around two o’clock, your time” Charity told them, explaining the two-hour time difference between their destinations. “Are you sad to be leaving?” Noah asked Charity, who had moaned about the extreme cold all week. “Kind of, I’ll miss the fun times, and the sauna at the hotel, but Babe, I can’t wait to walk through that door and get into bed and not have to wear three pairs of socks” She joked. Noah and Sarah laughed, suddenly noticing something a little out of place on the runway. “What’s that?” They both asked, squinting for a better view of whatever it was airport staff were chasing outside. Charity and Vanessa turned sharply to see not one, but two reindeers running in circles up and down the flight path. “You’ve got to be kidding me," Charity murmured. “Rudolph” Moses shouted loudly, pointing to the glass and catching the attention of the family beside them, starting a chain of gasps from children who all ran to the window to see their favourite Christmas creatures galloping and misbehaving on the runway. “That’s not good,” Vanessa said, turning to Charity, as they realised their flight was bound to be pushed back even further now. “Guys, we’re going to have to go. I need to keep a listen out for announcements. I’ll message you when I know what’s going on” she sighed, then shut off the iPad and headed off to the information desk to see if she could find out if this game of ‘man v reindeer’ hindered their travel in any way. “Charity, please, be nice” Vanessa called out as her fiancé stormed towards the young man manning the desk on the other side of the room. Charity turned back and showed a fake smile to Vanessa, before carrying on her soldiering march to the desk. “Oi, what’s going on out there?” She asked, her voice a little louder than usual. “I apologise, Ma’am, this doesn’t usually happen” The young man announced, his accent thick and jolly just like everyone else she had heard and spoken to since arriving almost a week ago. “Oh, it doesn’t, does it? This isn’t some sort of free show for the kiddies to watch while you load up the bags, is it?” She toyed with him, and then felt guilty as he clearly didn’t pick up on the sarcasm in her words. The man stuttered, and tucked a lock of dark blonde hair behind his ear as he tapped away on his keyboard, hoping desperately that the right answers would come up. Charity shifted from foot to foot as the slow computer loaded a new page. The young man attempted eye contact with Charity but quickly ducked his head once more as he grew timid of her scowl. “If you’ll just bear with me, for a moment” He spoke in a whisper, but before he could refresh the page, an announcement boomed from the tanoy above. “This is a passenger announcement. All flights sadly will be delayed due to animal interference on the runway, we regret any inconvenience-" Charity stopped listening and turned to Vanessa in a strop. Vanessa met Charity with a frown as she too realised that they were going to be stuck there for the foreseeable. Charity rubbed the palm of her hand harshly across her forehead and took a deep breath, that was visible as a slither of cold grey air. “I’ll be back in a minute” She mouthed to Vanessa, before leaving to find the toilets. The room filled with a mixture of defeated sighs and angry voices as others learned the fate of their Christmas Eve. It seemed nobody was going to make it home at their expected times as all flights upon the notice board switched to red writing with the dreaded word ‘Delayed’ next to the names of their destinations. A swarm of people rushed past as Charity seemed to be the only person heading in the opposite direction to the information desk, where the young man was about to be in for a grilling from hundreds of people, so she wasn’t surprised when she glanced back to see him rushing off to find another co-worker to help him out while the angry mob approached. 

Two sets of double doors stood between the departure lounge and the rest of the airport where Charity remembered rushing past a disabled toilet on the way in, just over an hour ago. She headed solely by herself, down an empty hallway towards another hallway that branched off to the right, where a bright sign showed a drawing of a wheelchair and the abbreviation ‘WC’ overhead. As she picked up the pace, hurrying to the single toilet, hoping nobody had beaten her there, she quickly turned the corner and found the bright blue painted door open and unoccupied just up ahead, behind one last set of doors. As she grew more desperate to relieve her bladder she lashed out at the door, kicking it hard with her foot. The door was pushed with so much force that it very quickly flew open and was out of her reach long before she noticed an elderly man turn the corner. As the door coincided with him, Charity gasped loudly and swore, watching in horror as the old man fell to the floor. “Oh my God, I am so sorry” Charity choked, falling to her knees to try to help him up, but as she reached out for his hand, she realised that he was unconscious. “Oh no, no, no” She muttered repeatedly, reaching for her phone. “Babe, come quickly to the toilet around the corner. Don’t bring the kids” She panicked. “What? What’s wrong?” Vanessa worried from the other end of the phone. “Just hurry up, quick” Charity boomed, then hung up as the elderly man twitched and began to come around. “Thank God." She breathed, glad that she hadn’t killed him. Within seconds, Vanessa appeared from behind, out of breath, after running all the way there. “What happened?” She wheezed, as she skidded to a halt, joining Charity upon her knees. “Hello, sir? Can you hear me?” She added, disregarding Charity as she focused on the old man. “Where am I?” He asked, his voice quiet and shaky. “You’re at Rovaniemi airport, in Finland” Vanessa explained. “Ah, is that right?” The old man nodded, his eyes opening for the first time. He was a large man, which seemed lucky at this time as his body had cushioned his fall. “That’s it. Can you tell me your name?” Vanessa asked him, calmly. “Kris” He answered, blinking rapidly as the bright ceiling light pierced his sight. “Kris Kringle, but I have many other names too. Santa Claus, Father Christmas, Saint Nic” He explained, with sincerity in his voice. “Oh no, he’s delirious” Charity spat. Vanessa shot Charity a look that said ‘shut up’ without having to say the words out loud, as she helped the old man to sit upright. “Very funny” Vanessa laughed gently, nodding towards his long white beard. “You would think so, but it is true” He insisted. “No, it’s not. And this isn’t funny by the way” Charity began, she was going to get around to throwing in an apology after scolding him for joking with them while they worried, but before she could get to it, the old man interrupted her. “Yes, it is. I am Santa Claus” he told them again. “Alright then, Santa” Vanessa began, carefully checking his head for any cuts or lumps. “Is there anybody here with you? Can I go and find somebody, other than just a first aider?” She asked, trying her best to be polite and calm with him. “No, it’s just me and my reindeer” He announced. “Reindeer? Was that you? Letting reindeers onto the runway as some kind of stupid joke?” Charity grilled him, no longer feeling bad for causing his accident. “It’s no joke, Charity” He declared. Charity’s eyes widened in confusion as she heard her name spoken from the stranger's lips. “How do you know my name?” She barked, checking her pockets to see if her flight details were visible with her name upon them. “I know all about you, Charity Dingle, and you too, Vanessa Woodfield” The old man smirked. Vanessa joined Charity in shock as she too wondered how he knew their names. “I also know that you’re here with your sons, Johnny and Moses” he added. This now worried Charity and Vanessa, more. “How do you know that?” Vanessa asked him, raising her finger to Charity’s lips to shush her as she sensed her partner's rising anger building up once more. “Because, I’m Santa Claus'' He told them again, growing more insistent. “And, I know all” He added, but gasped as his head began to pound with an ache that squandered his vision, his surroundings waved and wobbled as he tried to steady himself. “Don’t move so quickly” Vanessa pleaded with him, knowing for sure that he had concussion. “Charity, go and get somebody” Vanessa insisted, tapping her repeatedly on the leg as she spoke. “Like who?”, “Anybody, just go”, “Please, don’t worry. I don’t need to be seen. I’m just fine” The old man vowed, as he attempted once more to get up off the cold floor, but failed. “I really think you should see a medic” Vanessa told him, beginning to lose her patience. “No, I don’t have time for that. I need to get home to Mrs Claus'', “Let me guess. She’s back at the North Pole?” Charity joked, sarcastically, having not actually left yet. “Exactly, yes” The old man replied. Charity rolled her eyes as he kept up his fairy-tale story. “You’re going to have to come with me." He told them, hesitating at first as Charity glared at him from behind furrowed brows. “Absolutely not." She stated. Vanessa shushed her again. “We can’t do that, sorry,'' Vanessa began, stopping for a split second as she once again, uneasily called him by the name he’d provided. “We have to get home to our family in time for Christmas, Santa'' She explained. “If you don’t accompany me, Vanessa, there will be no Christmas'' he spoke clearly, and loudly, and it seemed the old man was now losing his patience, too. “Seriously? Drop the act, old man. How do you know our names? Is this some sort of scam? Are you going to fleece us of all we’ve got as a bid to stop you from going to the police?” Charity demanded, as she now started to grow weary of the strange guy sitting beside her. The old man turned to Charity, and then to Vanessa. “No. And I’m very sorry about this, but it is your fault, really.” The old man said. “It was an accident” Charity raised her voice, but as she spoke, he ignored her and pulled a hat from his pocket. Typically, it was red in colour and adorned with white fluff, and a plump little bobble was attached to the end. As he held it tightly in his hands, the old man mumbled to himself. “Fly through the skies, Santa’s grotto lies. Past the stars and through a black hole, home we go, to The North Pole” He rhymed. Before Charity had the chance to roll her eyes for the second time, red and green lights suddenly appeared before them. Not much different from the Northern Lights they had watched in awe the night before, these lights danced around them momentarily before swooping down and brushing against their skin. “What’s going on?” Vanessa panicked as her body began to tingle. “Don’t panic” The Old Man pleaded. “What do you mean don’t panic? What is this?” Charity shouted, her body now tingling too. Without another word, the old man closed his eyes and the lights lifted them from the ground and they disappeared from the airport without a trace.

Within mere seconds, Charity and Vanessa found their feet upon the ground once more, and other than feeling a little nauseous, both felt fine. Not believing their eyes, they each rubbed them and blinked, taking in their new surroundings. “Where are we?” A little voice asked, tugging at Vanessa’s coat. Both mums turned to find that Johnny and Moses were safe and with them, wherever it was they had been taken. “I don’t know,” Vanessa told the boys, in the calmest voice she could summon as she herself worried on the inside. “You’re at the North Pole, young man” The old man told Johnny. “Are you Santa?” Moses asked, looking him up and down, taking in his large frame and long thick beard. “Yes, yes I am." The old man nodded. “I thought so,” Moses nodded back, as if it were no big deal. After all, he had already sat on Santa’s lap a few days ago and asked him for a bike for Christmas. “I’m sorry, but is no one else freaking out right now?” Charity asked, her voice shaking as she stared down the man who she now half believed, really was Santa Claus. Vanessa raised her hand like a schoolgirl would. “I’m freaking out, a bit" She murmured. “Please don’t worry. If we can just make our way over to the house, I will explain everything” He reassured them, and held out his arm to show them the way. From what they could see, the North Pole was very much like Lapland, but without all the tourists. Snow blanketed all the land and the sky was deep and dark and filled with stars, and thousands of trees lined the hills miles away as a gentle breeze whipped by. “Who wants a hot chocolate?” The old man asked. “Me” Both boys cheered, excitedly. “I thought so. And maybe something a little stronger for your Mummy’s, a Brandy perhaps?” He suggested with a light chuckle. “Too right” Vanessa mouthed, “And make it a double” Charity added, as they timidly followed the old man and their sons to the large house that lit up the near distance in twinkling golden lights. Once inside, Santa was greeted by a group of elves who were excited to see him back, but each of them cocked their heads to the side at the sight of the new faces that had come along with him. “Is Mrs Claus around?” He asked, ignoring their questionable little faces as his head continued to pound. As the words left his mouth, Mrs Claus appeared just ahead, rushing a little in a panic. “Are you alright?” She asked, with red dimpled cheeks. “I saw it happen on the seeing glass” she told her husband, as she fussed at him to see the lump that had appeared on his head. “I am fine, hurts a bit, and quite slumbersome, though” He spoke, like a poet or old timely person, so Charity thought. “Um, sorry to interrupt, but can you please inform us why we are here?” Vanessa asked, raising her voice above the chit chat of the Claus’. Mrs Claus ducked her head, as if she were expecting one of them to burst into a fit of anger, while Santa, on the other hand, came over mischievously, as if he was savouring the moment, he was to offload his plans for the two women. “Please, take a seat” He insisted, shifting aside so that Charity and Vanessa could perch on a large green sofa. Just as they did, a new elf arrived with a silver tray. On top of it stood two hot chocolates, topped with cream and chocolate sprinkles, and beside them were two crystal tumblers with a drop of brandy inside. Charity reached out and threw back her shot without a word of thanks, whereas Vanessa took hers and held it in her hands, without yet taking a sip. “Can we just get straight to the point?” She asked, politely. Looking up at Mr and Mrs Claus. “I’ll tell you what. How would you boys like to munch on some chocolates and candy canes?” The old lady asked, pulling a handful of gold coins from her big velvet pocket. Johnny and Moses lit up the room with their excited toothy grins and leapt to their feet, following Mrs Claus across the room to reach down the candy canes she had offered, which were hanging upon the wall near the open fireplace. As the boy's footsteps receded, Santa took a seat beside Charity and Vanessa, and anxiously drummed his fat fingertips upon the coffee table. “Here’s the thing," He began. Sensing the impending doom, Charity grew nervous and snatched Vanessa’s brandy from her lap and threw it down the hatch. Vanessa turned to her fiancé and scowled, now wishing she had drunk it while she had had the chance. “I’m not the first Santa Claus. My father was your ‘Father Christmas’ before me, and his father before him, and so on. What’s important for you to know is that a ‘Santa’ needs to be well rested and full of joy on Christmas Eve night, to be able to fly around the world delivering gifts to girls' and boys' ' He told, his tone borderline loud and story like, like an old and wise teacher. “When has anyone ever been both of those things at once?” Charity joked, her nerves getting the better of her as she was talked down to by a strange, overweight man. Santa’s eyes made a beeline for Charity and for a moment he looked the opposite of jolly. “My point is. After my little, ‘accident’, or so you have called it. I am not fit to fly. Which is where you will see our predicament. No Santa, no presents, no Christmas'' He pointed out. “So, you’re saying, basically, that Charity has ruined Christmas, for the whole world?” Vanessa asked, horrified. Charity scoffed and pulled a face at the blame she was receiving, but kept quiet as Santa spoke once more. “Not necessarily. You see, even though it is my job, it doesn’t have to be me in that sleigh tonight. Children all over the globe will be expecting a bearded fellow and eight reindeer to deliver their gifts, but seeing as I am unable to do so, I’m going to be in need of a substitute” He divulged. “Well, as long as you’re not expecting us to do it-” Charity began, sarcastic in reply as usual, but stopped dead in her tracks as she finally caught the hint that Santa had dropped. Like an owl, her head swivelled almost all the way around as she turned to Vanessa, and then back to Santa again. “You have got to be kidding me?” She blurted out. But Santa was far from joking and had dropped the half smile from his face. “Tell me this is just a big wind up,” Charity added, looking at Vanessa again, this time ready to laugh, thinking that her partner had managed to pull a brilliant prank on her. But Vanessa looked just as taken aback as she had, and so Charity’s laughter faded and her heart began to thud in her chest. “You want us to deliver millions of presents? Tonight?” Vanessa gasped, not believing her ears as she listened to Santa’s instructions. “Yes. It has to be you. You are the ones who injured me, and everybody else here is needed for their own jobs. You’re the only two people in the whole of the North Pole who can do this. It is important that the children get their gifts” Santa explained. “If it’s so important, why were you hanging around a Finnish Airport in the first place, and not putting bows on boxes or something?” Charity argued, adamant that something wasn’t right here. “I was in Lapland visiting Children on my last round of duty before heading home to load up the sleigh. And if it wasn’t for you that’s exactly what I would be doing” Santa shouted back, causing his already pounding head to hurt more. Quickly, he held his face in his palm and closed his eyes for a moment before regaining his strength to look up again. “It really is very important that you do this. If the children awake to empty stockings, they will question if I am real. And if enough Children stop believing in me, the magic of ‘Father Christmas’ will die, and myself with it, and Christmas will be over, for all” He spoke sombrely. Charity’s face became a picture of confusion and disbelief, whereas Vanessa had believed in what she had been told, with every word. “That’s so sad," Vanessa whispered, with that she turned to the boys who luckily hadn’t heard any of what Santa had had to say. Johnny and Moses were laughing with Mrs Claus, with chocolate all over their tiny faces, and so Vanessa knew that they had to do this, for them. “Charity” She spoke, but was cut off. Charity had held out her hand and was deep in thought. “You look me in the eye and you tell me that this isn’t just a big joke” She began. Santa looked to Charity with sad eyes. “It’s no joke." He spoke. Charity shook her head in disappointment at herself, as she started to believe in the seriousness of their situation. “Okay, but if we were to do this, how are we supposed to fly a sleigh at God knows how many miles per hour, or squeeze down chimneys and be expected to drink gallons of milk?” She questioned, thrown off by how insane she must have sounded. “With magic," Santa said. “Magic” Charity muttered, throwing her hands into the air in disbelief and rolling her eyes. Vanessa sat quietly through all of this, just watching the man sitting in front of her as Charity rattled off her questions. But before either of them could ask another, the sofa they were sat on shifted for a moment before lifting off the carpet, floating in mid-air with them still upon it. “Oh my God, put us down” Vanessa shrieked as they reached the ceiling, terrified, and amazed by the magic that was now apparent. “Is it going to be safe?” Vanessa asked when they reached the floor once more. “Oh yes, it is quite safe” Santa insisted with multiple, fast nods. “What about the boys?”, “Johnny and Moses can stay here with us, safe and sound, bellies full of chocolate and sweets, surrounded by so many toys that they won’t even realise you’ve gone” He voiced, hopeful. Vanessa felt a lump in her throat as she mentally talked herself into accepting the responsibility given to her, and though she felt like a barrel of nerves, she nodded firmly. “Are you mad?” Charity shrieked. “Charity, think of the boys. What would we tell them if they woke up to no present's tomorrow morning?”, “Uh, nothing, just take them out and buy some ourselves?”, “Okay, what about the rest of the kids in the village? In the country? In the World? Are we going to take them out to the shops too?” Vanessa questioned, as she admittedly found herself getting excited for the adventure that lay ahead. Charity pulled a face, and glanced back and fore between Vanessa’s hopeful smile and Santa’s pleading eyes. Admitting defeat, she threw herself back on the sofa. “Alright” She sounded, in a voice like no other she had used until this very moment. “But I’m going to need five minutes” She added, covering her face with her hands. Vanessa smiled at Santa and beamed, whilst Charity failed to come up with an escape route in her head.  
The reindeer had already been brushed, fed and watered and were waiting as they usually did, in their luxurious stables as the last of the gifts made their way onto the sleigh. A giant red sack was strapped tightly onto the back seat and looked fit to burst as a handful of elves tightened the thick rope ties into a perfectly shaped bow at the top of it. The sleigh itself wasn’t all that much different from the imagined version from television or greetings cards. It too, was red, wooden and was adorned with brass handles and bodywork. “It really stinks in here” Charity mentioned whilst wrinkling her nose as they all headed to the first stable to load up the reindeers to the sleigh. “It’s not that bad” Vanessa shrugged as she excitedly held out her hand to touch the reindeer closest to her. “Hi, Comet” She giggled as the famous reindeer nibbled at her fingers as she read his name from a plaque. “This is crazy” She added as she felt the excitement of their situation bubble away inside her. “You know, I treated a reindeer once?” Vanessa told Santa as he arrived by her side. He raised an eyebrow, intrigued. “There was a Christmas market in the village a few years ago and someone let all the reindeers out as a prank, but unfortunately, in all the carnage one of the smaller ones got trampled. He was ok though, in the end” she beamed. Santa smiled back after listening intently to her story, when all the while Charity ducked and cowered from Cupid, in the stable next over. “Don’t touch me” she warned the six-foot creature as she ducked away from its head. “Alright, shall we get started?” Santa asked, rubbing his hands together as he watched Charity back away into a corner. With that, he raised his hand and with one finger he swished a pattern in the air, causing each stable door to open, letting the reindeers out into the barn. Like they had done hundreds of times, each reindeer made their way over to their space in front of the sleigh, and waited patiently to be fastened up. “Ooh, this way, Comet” Vanessa motioned as they sidestepped beside one another. “Oi, mate, over here” Charity shouted, bickering with one of the other reindeers who had gone in the wrong direction and had its rear end in her face. Vanessa chuckled quietly to herself as Charity froze with her back turned. “If I turn around and see you laughing, you can go around the world on your own” Charity warned, but still smiled when she saw Vanessa hiding her laugh behind the back of her hand.  
After a few minutes, all eight reindeers were buckled up and ready to go, but before Charity and Vanessa could hop up onto the sleigh, they were pulled aside by Mrs Claus, who had arrived with a pile of freshly washed and folded laundry. “Is that for us?” Vanessa asked, thinking they were receiving a warm jumper or fluffy blanket for their lap. Mrs Claus smiled sweetly as she handed over the warm clothes in her hands, but while she came over innocently, Santa sucked in his cheeks, as if he were waiting for them to notice what was really going on. Vanessa was handed a bundle of green material, and Charity received red. “An elf costume?” Vanessa voiced, unfolding the clothes to reveal a green shirt and red and white striped leggings, with a matching jingle belled hat. Charity’s eyes widened as she unfolded her own pile, where just as she thought, she was provided with a red suit and false elasticated beard. Without saying a word, she looked to Santa. “If you were to be seen, you’d have to be in a suit and beard” He explained, holding his hands up. “Oh, so the fact I’m a woman, doesn’t matter. As long as I have a hairy face?” She spat, flicking the beard out in front of them all. “I’m known for my beard, Charity, that’s just how it goes”, “I’m not letting anyone see me in this”, “Good, because the whole point is not to be seen, to keep the magic alive” Santa chortled. Charity rubbed her face with her hand. “Fine, you know what? Fine” She sighed loudly. “I’ll just put on the stupid costume and deliver the stupid gifts to the stupid kids, and then, hopefully I can get home and go to bed” She moaned, as she angrily stomped her way into the suit. Vanessa followed her lead and slipped her costume on over the top of her clothes and didn’t really mind the way she looked in it. Charity turned to her wanting to say something sarcastic but when she saw her fiancé's little smile, she couldn’t make fun of her. “You look cute” She said with a straight face. “And you look” Vanessa paused, “Handsome” She added, as she helped Charity into the beard and kissed her gently on the lips as the prickly hairs tickled her face. Santa coughed and cleared his throat, waiting for the two women to finish their embrace. “Right. Well, if you just want to hop on up” He nodded to the sleigh. Vanessa squeaked as she pulled open the door to climb in, but Charity pushed ahead of her and climbed the little ladder before scooting over onto the leather clad bench inside. “Vanessa” Santa spoke softly, pulling the small blonde to the side. “A word of advice. When you’re out there, should you come across anybody in the flesh, a woken child or a person out celebrating and merry on the mulled wine, just remember to always treat the situation with cheer and joy. The magic of Christmas is sometimes fragile, but can take one a long way if used properly” He whispered, not necessarily keeping the information away from Charity, but he hoped to mention it without her hearing, in fear that she may change her mind about helping and leave them in the lurch. “Okay” Vanessa nodded, before looking up to Charity. “She’s a feisty one” Santa added, following Vanessa’s gaze. “She is, but she means well. I think she’s just tried and in shock, she’s not always like this, she can be really sweet too”, “Oh I know, this is the first year in a long time that she’s been on the nice list”, They chuckled. “Are you coming or what?” Charity called down, her head reappearing from above as she interrupted their joke. Vanessa grinned. “Coming” She shouted back, putting her best foot forward, strenuously pulling herself onboard. Once seated, Santa stood back for a better view of the women behind the reins. “So, what now?” Charity asked, afraid to touch the reins in case the reindeer took off without any further instructions on what it was that they actually had to do. “Just do as I would. Tell the reindeers where you want to go and they’ll take you there. Beneath your seat, is a book with each country's traditions and what the people call me. Be sure to get them right, leaving behind the correct clues that you’ve been is just as important as placing down the presents. Other than that, you can wing the rest” He laughed, shrugging his shoulders. “Good plan” Charity sighed, rolling her eyes sarcastically. “Oh, before I forget” Santa added, delving into his pocket to retrieve the same hat he had used back at the airport. “Pop this on Charity, you’ll need it to fly, and to complete your look”. Again, Charity sighed. “Funny, you look like you’re feeling much better and could probably do this yourself now” she pointed out with a raised eyebrow. “I am always jolly, even in ill health”, “Ill health? You had a bump to the head not a bout of man flu” She replied, sarcastically. “Please, give an old man a break, Miss Dingle” he pleaded, with a twinkle in his eye. Charity breathed harshly to hide her laughter as for the first time she and Santa seemed to share in a joke. Vanessa disappeared down under the seat and pulled out the thick hardback book they had just been told about. Blowing off a year's worth of cobwebs, she dusted the cover and opened it up. Inside was just as Santa had said, the many different names and aliases of Santa Claus, and the many traditions each country followed when leaving out stockings, boots to fill with sweets, and mince pies, cookies and milk. “All set?” Santa asked as he attempted to grab their attention away from the magical book. Charity and Vanessa pulled themselves together, with nerves kicking in, but they were finally ready to head off into the sky. “Alright. Let's do this” Vanessa nodded, holding out her hand to high five Charity, who left her hanging for a moment before slapping her palm lazily. “Now, to lift off you need to try to sound like me, very deeply, say to the reindeers, ‘On Dasher, On Dancer, On Prancer and Vixen, On Comet, On Cupid, On Donner and Blitzen’,” he reeled off from memory, the names of his eight reindeer. Charity’s face was a picture as she attempted to remember the names and their order. “On” She said aloud, deeply, “On Dasher” she tried again, forcing her voice even deeper, before scowling at Mr and Mrs Claus who stood in a fit of giggles. “They’re animals, Charity, they can’t understand you” Mrs Claus chuckled, wiping a tear from her eye. Vanessa cocked her head to the side and sniggered as her fiancé had been pranked. “I’m sorry,” Santa added. “Just take the reins and give them a flick and away you’ll go” He said more seriously. “Good luck” He spoke again, now stepping back to move out of the way as the barn doors opened wide, revealing the night sky. With one last glance back to the ground, and Santa’s grotto, Charity took a deep breath before taking hold of the reins. Vanessa quickly slipped the magical bobble hat onto Charity’s head and readjusted her bushy beard. “Alright, bring it on then” Charity murmured, psyching herself up. Then, in an instant, the reindeers perked up at her touch and jumped from the ground. Eight reindeers began to fly, their ankles slowly getting into motion as they levitated on the spot, before whipping out of the doors and off into the night.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2.

The sleigh took off with a bumpy start, and it took Charity a while to get to grips with the control, but after a few swear words and a fit of rage she finally realised how to hold the reins properly, by holding the leather strap with four fingers wrapped over it and her little fingers tucked beneath. “It’s just like riding a horse” Vanessa informed, as she showed Charity how to position her wrists properly. “Like I’ve ever ridden a horse before” Charity whinged as the cold wind blew harshly at her face. Vanessa chose not to bite back at her fiancé's rudeness and instead pulled open the magical book to get a clear picture of the map inside. “It says here our first stop is the South Pacific. Which is great cause I’ve always wanted to go to Bora Bora. This isn’t the way I imagined it though” Vanessa spoke, getting lost in a daydream of tanning her skin on the warm sand of the island's beaches. “Well, I wish you’d have said that before we booked Lapland. We wouldn’t have been in this mess otherwise” Charity moaned. Again, Vanessa ignored her smart remarks and focused on not getting lost amongst the clouds. “Look, it says here that on the Saturday before Christmas the people of Bora Bora gather for a light show with floats and dance spectacles. It’s called the Parade De Noel” Vanessa gasped, excitedly. “Aw isn’t that nice, such a shame that that was last week and we’ve missed it”, “Are you going to be like this the whole trip?” Vanessa scowled, growing tired of Charity’s negative outlook on what she saw as an unbelievable, once in a lifetime opportunity. “Pretty much, yeah” Charity shrugged, but felt bad for putting a damper on Vanessa’s fun. “Do you want to drive?” She asked, piping up after a momentarily silence. Vanessa unfolded her arms and glanced down at the reins. “Do you think I’m allowed to?” She asked, hoping Charity would say yes and hand the control over to her. “I don’t see why not. I mean, what else are you supposed to do for the next couple of thousand miles?” Charity smiled. Vanessa hesitated, but decided to go for it and whipped the reins from Charity’s cold hands. “Hey, careful” Charity shouted as the reindeers startled at an unexpected tug on the reins. “Sorry” Vanessa mouthed, squinting as she focused on the sky ahead. As she flew them across the sky, Charity took her watchful gaze from Vanessa and decided to have a look at the notes on Bora Bora. “According to Santa’s fancy handwriting, On Christmas eve there's a special dinner with a Polynesian dance show, with plenty of feasting and food. So, my guess is when we pull up, everyone will be knackered out from dancing and partying, which if anything, is no different than the Village. Which just leaves me with getting in and out of people's houses, unheard.” Charity rattled on, then took in a sharp inhale of breath. “Wait a minute. He never told me how to go down the chimney” she gasped, as she pictured herself getting stuck inside a fireplace. “Relax. It’s probably all to do with the magic” Vanessa said, without a care in the world as they passed over the Pacific Ocean. “Right, the magic” Charity nodded, trying not to freak out. “Oh look, there it is” Vanessa pointed out as the reindeers began to descend on a patch of land beneath them. “Where?” Charity asked, tilting her head to try and make out a spec of island amongst the ocean, but as the words left her lips the collection of islands became clearer. “It’s showtime” Vanessa giggled as they readied themselves for landing on the rooftop of a home near a strip of white sandy beach. According to Charity’s watch, it was one minute past midnight, and yet the night time air felt as warm as a British summer. “Jesus, I am sweating my bits off here” Charity gasped, pulling the collar of her suit away from her neck, hoping for a slight breeze to soothe her warm skin. “Now what?” she added, whispering to Vanessa as they momentarily waited on the roof. “Just a sec” Vanessa told, as she flicked through the pages of the big book. As she skimmed over information, not really taking in what she was reading, Charity took a closer look at the book and held out her hand to flip the page, when just as her fingertips came into contact with the paper, the book began to move pages by itself, fluttering quickly before landing on a page that read ‘1, Beach Front, Papeete, Bora Bora’. “Is that where we are?” Charity asked as Vanessa turned the book to its side so that the letters became clearer under the moonlight. “I think so. Yes, see look” She said, pausing to point at a list of names beside the address. “Home of the Tetuanui family, Alaula, Meilani, Olina, and Keanu” Vanessa said aloud, hoping she had pronounced the names correctly. “Oh” Charity gasped, realising now how well planned out the book was. “But, how am I supposed to find their gifts in that?'' She asked, pointing to the extremely large sack, that she was surprised had even allowed them to be airborne. “No idea” Vanessa admitted as she failed to find instructions on retrieving gifts. Wearily, Charity stepped closer to the sack, afraid that it was going to topple over and crush her to death on the roof of this extravagant beach house, when an idea came to mind. “Umm,” She began, worried that she was going to sound silly, but it was only Vanessa in earshot, so she followed through anyway. “The Tetuanui Family, 1 Beach Front, Papeete, Bora Bora” She said aloud to the sack. Suddenly, the rope ties unknotted and the sack opened, magically lifting out a pile of neatly wrapped gifts, topped with bows. “I guess, that’s how you do it?” Charity turned to Vanessa, smiling smugly as her idea had paid off. Vanessa laughed as Charity returned to her side, being followed by the presents with every step. At the foot of the sleigh, Charity looked down and although she had rendered a great thought for the gifts, nothing sprang to mind about squeezing down a cemented hole on the roof. “Any thoughts?” Vanessa asked from the seat of the sleigh. “Nope” Charity sounded, throwing her hands in the air in momentarily defeat, but as luck would have it, Santa’s magic worked again, when a small jar filled with what looked like the kind of thing, you’d see in a Disney film, rolled from the back of the sleigh, bumping into Vanessa’s boot. “What’s this?” She asked, picking up the clear glass jar for closer inspection. “Something whimsical and obvious, I expect”, Charity rolled her eyes. “Obvious? So, fairy dust, perhaps?”, “Maybe not that obvious” Charity smirked, but as Vanessa pulled the stopper from the lid of the jar, the glittering sequins inside seemed to increase their radiance as if to encourage her thought process. “I think I have to throw this over you” Vanessa told, hoping it wouldn’t freak Charity out too much. “Woah, no, it’s not going to make me like, ‘itty bitty’, is it?” She asked, as if Vanessa would know what magical glittering dust could do. “I don’t know” Vanessa shrugged, but grew excited at the thought of showering it over Charity’s head. “Come here” She added, giggling as she stepped off the sleigh. “No, I don’t want to” Charity blurted out as she stepped away from Vanessa, who had resorted to chasing her. “Charity, stop, stay still” She laughed as they ran around on the roof of the sleeping family’s house. Charity let out a faint scream as Vanessa pinched her fingers together and pulled a sprinkling of the dust from the bottle and threw it over her. “It tickles” Charity announced, wrinkling her nose as the glitter rained upon her, and she braced herself for a sneeze that never came. “Oh, no” She spat out as a strange tingling feeling came over her. “What’s happening?” Vanessa gasped, as Charity grabbed hold of her body, touching and squeezing at her flesh as it tickled away beneath her clothes, but there needed to be no words as it became apparent that their plan had worked. Standing upon the rooftop, Charity realised that her body was now able to morph and stretch, letting her squeeze into small spaces, but just as she turned to find the chimney stack, she noticed that there wasn’t one. “Where’s the bloody chimney?” She shouted, then covered her mouth in a panic, hoping not to have woken anyone inside. “I- I don’t know,” Vanessa announced as she joined her in searching for the chimney that clearly didn’t exist. Turning back to the book for help, she skimmed the words at the top of the page. “Ah here, it says they don’t have chimney’s in French Polynesia, Santa is supposed to let himself in through the window”, “The window?” Charity repeated, glancing down at her feet hoping to find one on the roof, but as her luck would have it, as usual, everything was about to become just that little bit harder as she realised, she was going to have to abseil down the side of the house.  
“Have you got that rope tight, Ness? Please don’t drop me. I want to live long enough to at least eat my bodyweight in Yorkshire Puddings tomorrow” Charity begged as she relied on Vanessa’s grip of the rope for her safety. “It’s fine, look, I’ve threaded it through this little loop here” She beamed, proud of herself for having worked out how to set up the climbing equipment all by herself. Charity’s heart thudded in her chest and her palms grew sweaty as she slowly and carefully leaned backwards off the side of the roof, and dangled over the edge. “That’s it” Vanessa called out supportively as Charity began walking backwards down the wall. After a few small steps, she found herself at the window, which luckily had been left open and she was able to squeeze in through the gap, where she then found herself on the floor in the dark and silent living room of the Tetuanui family’s house. Inside, she found a large tree standing across the room, decorated just like the ones back home. An angel had been placed on the top of it, and tinsel in reds and greens glistened amongst baubles in the faint light coming in through the window. The home itself was very neat and tidy, photographs were framed upon the walls and two stockings hung from the edge of the table in the centre of the room. Charity unfastened the safety clip from her belt, and stood up and dusted herself off as the presents bobbed in through the window behind her and piled around her shoulders, waiting to be placed beneath the tree. Carefully, she took hold of the gift closest to her, where upon her touch, the magic holding it in the air faded, and it became weighty in her hands. “Do I just leave it here?” She whispered aloud to herself, as she found a space for the gifts on the tiled flooring beneath the bottom branches of the tree. Knowing that that had to be right, she stepped back and admired the twenty something boxes and smiled. “Ta-dah” she cheered for herself as she had successfully delivered her first gifts of the night. As she celebrated, her jacket pockets suddenly seemed to swell, so raising an eyebrow, she dipped her hand inside and pulled out a handful of sweets and chocolates. For a moment she was confused as to what she was supposed to do with them but then remembered the empty stockings hanging from the table. Pulling them open, she filled the stockings up with the goodies from her pockets, and noticed upon the table; a plate with a cookie upon it, and beside that, a bottle of beer. “Oh, yes. Result” She squealed. Unscrewing the lid from the bottle, she took a big gulp of the cold frothy beer, and gasped a satisfying breath, before discarding the empty bottle. Not really wanting the cookie, she popped it in her pocket and headed back out of the window, declaring drop off number one a success.  
Back up on the roof, Charity appeared before Vanessa with a grin and ran to her, swooping her up off the floor as she excitedly got into the Christmas spirit, at last. Vanessa chuckled until Charity put her back down before ‘Oohing’ at the cookie she was presented with. “Merry Christmas” Charity flirted as she handed it over with a wink and a kiss. “Have you been drinking?” Vanessa asked as she smelt alcohol on Charity’s breath. “Yes” She chirped as she stepped back into the sleigh. “Turns out, Santa gets a nice cold bottle of lager over here, not milk” She told Vanessa, whilst bobbing her head excitedly. Vanessa rolled her eyes and huffed. “Come on then, we’ve a lot of houses to go to, and lots of beers to drink along the way” Charity whooped, tapping the seat beside her for Vanessa to join her on the sleigh. Vanessa climbed the little ladder of steps and took hold of the reins. “Mush” Charity shouted playfully pointing to the reindeers as they rose steadily into the air and swooped over to the next house a few feet away.   
After touching down in multiple countries and islands, and delivering millions of gifts ‘down under’, Charity and Vanessa realised that time had been moving differently, or more correctly, hadn’t been moving at all. Each time they found themselves on the roof of someone’s house, their watches always read one minute past midnight. “Where to next?” Charity asked, as Vanessa read from Santa’s book. “Japan”, “Ooh nice,” She smiled, tapping the frame of the sleigh, excitedly. “It’s starting to get cold now, isn’t it?” Vanessa mentioned, blowing into her hands to soothe her stinging fingertips as a slight shiver danced through her body while they found themselves midway over the Pacific Ocean. “Hey, come here” Charity gasped, pulling Vanessa in close. Vanessa rested her head upon Chairty’s chest as they sat snuggled up on the bench while the reindeers led the way to their first stop in Japan. Tokyo. The city itself was lit up in all manner of colours and shone vividly through the empty streets while the people themselves slept away until the morning. Once arriving at the first home, Charity called out for the gifts from the sack. Though there didn’t seem to be many, each little box was wrapped in red, the colour of ‘luck’ in the country, and she noticed the tags read ‘Do not open until New Year’. “Eh?” Charity grunted as she caught sight of the instructions. Vanessa, having sensed the question Charity was about to ask, skimmed through the book for an answer. “Apparently, the Japanese only give gifts to their partners on Christmas, and usually hold off giving to others until New Year” She read out. “That’s good enough for me” Charity shrugged, looking forward to seeing what would be left out on the table for her this time around after drinking many bottles of branded beers (that seemed not to affect her sobriety) along the way. One household had even left a bottle of wine, which Charity brought back to the sleigh with her, to share with Vanessa. With ease, Charity squeezed into the tiny chimney and landed with a slight thud upon the floor of the fireplace inside the house. Christmas trees made of origami paper scattered the room, showing that children and adults alike had had fun making them before bed, and brightly lit decorations draped the walls and ceiling near the six-foot Christmas tree in the window. Charity arranged the presents neatly on the ground then turned excitedly to the dining table but found it to be bare and left without a treat. Her eyebrows furrowed as she quickly snooped around the room thinking her snacks must be hidden away from sight somewhere else, but after a brief search, she came up empty handed. “What did you get?” Vanessa asked from the seat of the sleigh when Charity returned. “A big fat nothing. If I’d have thought of it while I was still inside, I’d have left them all a lump of coal” She moaned, sitting back in the sleigh in a strop. “Oh dear” Vanessa mouthed, but they soldiered on.  
After Japan, the rest of the Asian continent became next on their list, where they first stopped over at Korea, China and India where in each country there had been different traditions in store for Santa Clause. As they left Mumbai, Charity turned up her nose at the prospect of delivering more gifts as she had not received a treat for a few thousand miles and was starting to get tired and bored now that the novelty of the night had worn off. “Cheer up, we’ve not got long to go, and we’ll have saved Christmas” Vanessa chirped, still as happy to be there as she was when they had first started their trip around the world. Charity opened her mouth wide in an exaggerated yawn. With a large stretch of ocean separating them from their next destination, Charity lay her head upon Vanessa’s shoulder and sat quietly for a while. They travelled in silence for what seemed like no time at all, but without magic would probably have been hours. Vanessa had spent her time admiring the stars as they twinkled in the night sky and all around them, and watched as winter waves crashed in the rough sea below. She had not heard a peep from Charity and thought that she had fallen asleep until she felt the unmistakable touch of her fingertips pawing at her skin. Involuntarily, Vanessa let out a gasp and smiled, turning her attention to Charity who seemed to have perked up and was clearly up to something. Taking the reins from her hands, Charity placed the leather straps through the holding loop and pulled Vanessa in close. With her breath shaking in anticipation, Charity’s lips found Vanessa’s and they kissed passionately until the tiny blonde pulled back. “Babe? What’s red and white and says ‘Oh, Oh, Oh?’” Charity asked, mischievously, moaning her words seductively into her fiancé's ear. Vanessa looked to Charity’s eyes, then her lips and back again as she stiffened with shock and arousal at her husky voice. “It could be, Me” She answered the joke, suggestively, and lay down across the bench, pulling Vanessa down on top of her. “Charity” Vanessa whimpered as she allowed her to take her hands and slip them under her waistband. Charity’s skin was warm and soft under the suit, and she had discarded the fake beard a while ago and had kissed her with such tenderness that she almost allowed her to take her attention away from the journey at hand. Tongue tied and as one, they lay kissing and touching for a moment before Vanessa managed to snatch herself away. “Charity, we can’t” Vanessa griped, remembering that the sleigh belonged to Santa and with his magical abilities, who was to say he couldn’t see what they were up to, or sense it. “Oh, but I’m bored” Charity whinged as she hinted at starting up some fun for Vanessa’s benefit by placing her hand high upon her thigh and squeezing it gently. “Fancy some consensual, adult fun? We are all alone up here” She whispered heavily into Vanessa’s ear once more, causing her to gasp again. “No risk of anyone walking in on us, no need to keep our voices down, and a beautiful view” She whispered, painting a picture of the perfect scenario, hoping that Vanessa would change her mind. Vanessa hesitated, never having been very good at shaking Charity off once she’d started to play, but managed to force herself not to give in to her temptations. “No, stop” She told Charity with a smile, but it was no ploy, she was serious, this time. “So much for bringing joy to all at Christmas” Charity sighed. “You can have your joy when we get home. Now can we please focus on delivering these presents? We’re 30,000 feet in the sky and I don’t want to fall off this thing. I’ve never been a fan of heights”, “Is that why you decided to stop growing when you turned twelve?” Charity huffed in defeat. Vanessa shot her a look that warned her not to go down that road. “Sorry” Charity mouthed, knowing Vanessa hated the ‘short’ jokes she made whenever she wasn’t getting her own way.  
Africa became visible across the horizon after a few more miles. With Charity still sulking and refusing to deliver any more gifts, Vanessa realised that the rest of the night being a success was going to have to become her responsibility. The quick change in temperature helped with her nerves and chattering teeth as the reindeers galloped South West and into the air space of Somalia. Below their flight path was a dark and unintelligible desert land, that wreaked havoc on Vanessa’s anxiety as she feared falling from the sky and into a lion's den. Somalia as a country did not celebrate Christmas, as its home religion was Islam, but it’s neighbouring country; Kenya, did, and that was their next stop. “Oh no” Charity’s voice sounded as she popped her head up from behind the thick book. “Babe, I know you were going to do this one but, I don’t think- I don’t think I’m going to be okay with that” She spoke, her voice in a panicked frenzy. “Why? Booze on tap again now is it?” Vanessa asked, shaking her head, adamant that she was going to do something this time around. “No seriously, babe. Gifts in Kenya are to be delivered on the back of a camel” Charity announced. “What?” Vanessa questioned, knowing fully well that she was never going to be able to do everything required at once; alone. “Yep, says so right here. Camel” She pointed out with her finger tracing each letter across the page. After feeling a stabbing of disappointment hearing the change in delivery option, Vanessa suddenly found herself sitting up straight and excited again as she imagined the hilarity of herself and Charity trying to ride a camel with a sack full of gifts. “Oh, we are absolutely doing that” She announced with a laugh. Charity turned her head so fast she thought for a moment that it was going to fall off her shoulders. “No way” She screeched. Vanessa sucked her teeth and pulled a face. “Oh yes we are”, “Oh no we’re not”, “Oh yes we are”, “No we’re not, and this is not some kind of terrible pantomime, okay? There’s not going to be anyone around to give you a good laugh when I inevitably fall from its hump”, “Please don’t make me laugh, that’s just making me want to do it even more” Vanessa giggled, wiping a tear from her eye. Charity attempted to be annoyed by her fiancé's lack of care for her pride or ego, but again couldn’t say no to her smiling face, and so they landed the sleigh in a closed off area on the very outskirts of Kenya, where a flock of camels had been herded up in a fenced in pen and were left waiting for them to arrive. Having never seen a camel in person before, both Charity and Vanessa gawped at the severity of their seven-foot height as they towered above them. “Go on then, up you go” Charity said, pointing up at the camel's back. “What? You’re coming with me” Vanessa spat quickly, as it dawned on her how dangerous it could be after all, travelling by camel in the dead of night. “No chance” Charity laughed, refusing to leave her seat.  
Once inside the pen, dragging her feet, Charity muttered to herself under her breath as Vanessa dragged her towards their chosen camel. She had carefully selected the calmest one and was approaching it with caution. “Good camel,” She said in a sing-songy voice as they grew closer. The camel made no attempt to run off, and if it had been smaller, it wouldn’t have struck much fear into either of the women as it lounged around on its stomach, chewing on a long blade of grass that was hanging from its slopping lips. “Now what?” Charity whispered, terrified as they found themselves up close and personal with the large animal. “I think we just hop up and hold on for dear life” Vanessa said in a voice that didn’t fill Charity with much confidence. “So, we wing it?”, “Going to have to. Unless you know something about riding camels that I don’t”, “I know nothing of the sort” Charity cried, as not a single cell in her body hinted at wanting to do this. “Alright, well the book said to sprinkle the camel in that magic dust stuff and it should carry us the whole way without getting tired. We don’t need to do anything else, we just have to nudge it with our feet to walk, like a horse, and, stuff” She said, rubbing her temple with her fingers as she tried to picture the instructions in her mind. “And how do we win it’s trust again?” Charity asked, knowing it wasn’t going to be as easy as saying ‘Hey’ or ‘You alright?’. “You hold out your hand, confidently, to stroke it, and if it trusts us it will let us touch it”, “And if it doesn’t trust us?”, “We cry and skip town?”, “Please” Charity mouthed, as her clenched fist began to sweat at her side, turning her palm clammy and cold. “On three, ready?”, “No” Charity squealed. “One, two, three” Vanessa counted. In unison, both women held out their hands and turned their faces away in fear of being spat on as they waited for the camel to make contact with their shaking limbs. “What’s it doing?” Vanessa asked in a whisper, too afraid to glance over her shoulder as her hand remained empty. “I don’t know” Charity mouthed, she too not feeling brave enough to check, when Vanessa’s voice suddenly sounded above their heavy breathing. “Oh my God” She gasped as she finally felt pressure against her palm. Opening her eyes slowly, she checked for sure that it was definitely the camel nudging against her hand, and not a vicious predator that had tricked them and jumped from the bushes to eat them. “Hi there” She whimpered as the camel allowed her to stoke its long neck. Charity blurted out a mixture of sounds as she too found the camel pushing itself into her hand. “It’s actually kind of cute” Vanessa admitted, shocked, as she watched the camel close its eyes and lean into them like a domesticated pet. “What part of that is cute?” Charity asked, not agreeing with Vanessa, as she found the camel to be looking at her with a slight arrogance. She felt if it could talk it would likely tell her to naff off, in which, should the situation avail, she too would have some stern words to throw its way as she held her nose to mask the dreadful bin-like odour it gave off. “Stop mind-fighting our lift, we need to keep him on side. Don’t we, lovely boy?” Vanessa spoke through gritted teeth, as she rubbed the fur along the camel's side. “Excuse me?, Lovely boy?” Charity questioned, pulling a face that made her eyes squint and caused her cheeks to dimple. “Yeah” Vanessa murmured, nodding towards the camel's half raised hind, revealing its underbelly and other body parts that she daren't mention out loud. “Bloody hell, look at the size of that thing” Charity blurted out, her eyes now widening in shock. “Don’t stare, it’s rude” Vanessa scolded, as she sized up the height between the ground and the camel's back. “You’re going to have to give me a leg up” She added, realising that there was no way that her little legs were going to reach up and over the other side. With no saddle to hang on to, Vanessa positioned her hands between the camel's humps and waited for Charity, who was on bended knee, to lock her fingers together so she could step into her hands. “Ready, and lift” Charity murmured. With that, Vanessa pulled herself up as Charity pushed her upwards and over the camel's back, where she froze for a moment, laying on her belly before managing to sit upright. “Okay, I’m up. Give me your hand and I’ll help you”, “No thanks, I’m off back to the sleigh, see you later” Charity teased, half turning to walk away. Vanessa’s panic was imminent and struck her in a cold sweat as she thought Charity was about to ditch her, alone in the dark amongst seven or eight moody camels, though luckily, she was joking. With a mental countdown from three, Charity hurled herself up and behind Vanessa and wrapped her arms around her waist. “You got that dust stuff?” she asked, “It’s right here” Vanessa nodded, pulling the bottle from her pocket and the stopper from the top. She delicately pinched two fingers together amongst the magical glitter and let it rain upon the camel's head. As the glittering flecks landed, the camel raised its back end from the ground, which threw the two women from their perch. Vanessa let out a scream as they toppled forwards, gripping onto the camel's fur to stop them from falling. Charity, protectively dug her fingers into Vanessa’s arms in a split-second attempt to stop her girl from falling over the camel's shoulders and down to the ground as it stretched out its front legs, shakily standing at its full height and raising them six or seven feet off the ground. “I never want to do this again” Charity told her firmly once they caught their breath. “Noted”, Vanessa nodded her agreeance and gave a short firm kick to the camel's side which told it to start walking. With the giant sack of gifts bobbing along beside them, they headed into town, bringing both joy and anxiety to Africa.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3.

The drop off in Africa as a whole, had gone as well as could be expected, and thanks to the magic of Christmas and of Santa Clause, they didn’t have to go back to find the sleigh parked up in Kenya; as it had appeared at the other end of the continent, in Morocco. With all eight reindeers still strapped in tight, they were raring to go after they’d enjoyed a well-deserved pit stop, where they had gulped down buckets of water and had eaten their body weight in carrots. And so, with relief and sore bottoms, Charity and Vanessa were thankful to spot them waiting, as both they and the reindeers had survived the trip without being attacked by poachers or savanna animals.  
The sleigh flew over the Atlantic Ocean and they'd dropped off plenty of gifts in Brazil and South America. Some places were still awake and partying as they secretly whipped by overhead, skipping certain cities to loop back on. “Reckon we could take a break and get our hips moving?” Charity asked as she danced in her seat to the upbeat tunes of parties below. “I wish” Vanessa smirked, picturing herself upon the beach with a drink in one hand and a burrito in the other. “What do you think the old guy thinks of all this? Can you imagine Santa boogying with the best of them?” Charity scoffed. She couldn’t imagine Father Christmas, or any of his other aliases bumping and grinding with Mrs Claus. “Don’t put that thought in my head” Vanessa chuckled as a gyrating Santa thrusted away in the back of her mind. “Here’s our next stop” Vanessa pointed out, carefully landing the sleigh upon the roof of their first Mexican home. As Charity unloaded gift after gift from their never-ending sack, Vanessa admired the giant Nativity scene that had been set up in the middle of the town in Cancun. “I played Mary in the school Nativity once. I’d been an angel every year until my big break came” Vanessa announced, remembering her childhood Christmas play fondly. “I only did the whole Nativity thing once. I didn’t have a big role like you though” Charity spoke loudly as she stood at the furthest side of the sleigh. “What were you?” Vanessa asked, wondering which role Charity’s teachers would have assigned. “Technically, I shouldn’t have been in the play at all, because I don’t think Mary and Joseph erected a Christmas tree in that barn while she was going into labour” Charity sighed, heaving and hoeing as she lumbered herself up to pop down the chimney sack. “I bet you looked hilarious”, “Hilarious? I was covered in dusty old tinsel, a sparkle you apparently love at Christmas time” Charity winked, teasing Vanessa as she gulped back her embarrassment. “Back in a sec” Charity laughed, and with that she disappeared into the house.  
In Mexico, Christmas is widely celebrated, with the vast majority of the country being very religious. Like millions of others, this home was decorated in true Mexican fashion, and with a lot of Catholic symbolism. Upon the windowsill, Children had left out shoes for Santa Claus to fill with sweets and chocolates, of which Charity had to pull out of her ever-growing pockets. “These kids will need a trip to the dentist, not gifts under the tree” She said to herself as she was amazed by the number of goodies she had to leave behind. As she knelt down to clear a space under the tree for her flying parcels, she heard the unmistakable sound of a floorboard, creaking. Quickly, she turned and glanced over her shoulder where she found two little feet stuffed into pink slippers. ‘Shit’ she thought, as she realised, she’d woken a child, and panicked. “Santa?” A thick Spanish accent filled the room as the child looked Charity up and down. “Uh, yeah, that’s me” Charity said in a deep voice as she quickly yanked her beard up from around her neck and fastened it firmly so that it sat in the right place, before she stood up to face the child. The little girl cocked her head to the side as she realised that there was something different about Santa Claus as she stared Charity down from across the room. “What are you doing?” The girl asked. “I’m just leaving you and your family some Christmas presents” Charity told her, wishing there was something she could do to shoo the child away to bed without being rude. The little girl took a step closer, still studying Charity’s face. “You’re not fat” The child declared, pointing at Charity’s slim figure. On the inside, Charity was smug, grateful for the compliment from the little girl, but in order to stay in character she had to quickly come up with an excuse for not harbouring a big jolly belly. “Ah that’s because I’ve gone vegan” she spat out, cheerfully but not with much confidence. “Vegan?” The child questioned. “Yeah” Charity grimaced, wishing she’d come up with a better excuse. “Anyway, what are you doing awake? You know you’re supposed to be tucked up in bed when I get here” She quickly added. “I heard the reindeers on the roof, and somebody was singing”, “Singing?” Charity asked. “Yes, a girl like me. She was singing Feliz Navidad”, “Oh, was she?” Charity sniggered. “That’s my elf. Sometimes she gets bored of waiting for me”, “Is she on the naughty list?” The child asked, laughing. “Oh yes, she is very naughty” Charity nodded, then shook her head at her inappropriate thoughts when she remembered she was talking to a child. “Right, come one then. You need to go back to bed before anyone else wakes up” Charity insisted. “No one is home. They have all gone to mass”, “Mass?”, “Yes, midnight mass is very important at Christmas”, “Then why haven’t you gone?” Charity asked, wondering why the child had been left behind. “I’m sick” The little girl said, then coughed to prove it. “Oh” Charity whispered. “What’s the matter with you?” She added, hoping the child had a cold and nothing too contagious. “I was sick”, “Sick? I bet you ate too many chocolates, didn’t you?” Charity asked. The little girl gasped. “How did you know?” She questioned, still not noticing that the person she thought was Santa Claus was actually an English woman. “I’m Santa. I know everything” Charity boasted, proud with how quickly she had thought up her reply. “Now, if you go to bed and snuggle up nice and snug, I can leave you with lots and lots of lovely gifts before I go” She explained, hoping it would coax the little girl into going back to sleep. The little girl grinned. “Okay” She said, and with that she ran towards Charity and threw her arms around her waist. “I love you Santa” She told Charity, in a beautifully innocent voice. Charity felt a tidal wave of emotion sweep over her as the little girl clung on to her. “Santa loves you too. Now, off you go up to bed, and don’t forget, you can’t tell anyone that you saw me okay? It’ll be our little secret” Charity said. The little girl nodded vigorously, her little brown curls bouncing and her honey golden eyes glittering in the light that shone from the hallway. “Okay, Goodnight” she squealed, loosening her grip and running away. “Night, night” Charity whispered. 

Back on the roof, Charity appeared with wet eyes that startled Vanessa. “What’s wrong?” She gasped, wanting to take Charity’s face in her hands. “Nothing. I’m good” Charity wavered. “I met a kid. She thought I was Santa”, “Oh no. What did you do?” Vanessa gasped again. “I told her I was a Vegan” Charity spoke with a far off look in her eye. “You did what?”, “She was so sweet Babe, her family are at mass so luckily no one else was home”, “You need to be quieter on your landings. It must be the clumpy boots” Vanessa suggested, pointing towards Charity’s feet. “No, it wasn’t me. Someone woke her up by singing loudly from the roof” she told, folding her arms ready for Vanessa’s reaction. As expected, Vanessa threw her hand over her mouth and stammered. “I’m so sorry” She said, and then laughed as she noticed a smile break out across Charity’s face. “It’s alright. I’m glad it happened really. She was really excited, even though she hadn’t been feeling well, and she told me she loved me. And I know she didn’t mean that she loves me, but for tonight I am Santa. And it’s just like the old man said himself. It doesn’t matter who leaves the presents, as long as someone does. And tonight, I am that someone, bringing cheer and joy to children all over the world. I can’t tell you how good that makes me feel right now” Charity spoke from the heart. Vanessa smiled along to every word Charity said and teared up with her as she watched her fiancé dip into her feelings so freely. Charity stepped onto the sleigh and shared a hug with Vanessa, where they sat holding one another for a moment in their own little bubble of happiness, before dashing off to the next house.  
Now, North America was a lot different from the South. For starters, the weather changed from fine to wet along the way, causing the temperature to drop rapidly as they arrived in the Capital, Washington DC. “Do you think Mr President will have gifts this year? I should put coal in his stocking” Charity joked, but then weighed up the options in her head, daring herself to do exactly that as she waited for the sack to produce Santa’s gifts for The White House. “Too right. The audacity of that man, if you can even call him that” Vanessa tutted her disapproval of the president as she touched them both down onto the roof of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Charity blew into her cold hands and rubbed them together as she trudged along the roof in the snow. “Are you sure I’m not going to be shot at up here?” Vanessa asked as Charity positioned herself ready to shimmy down the chimney stack and into the warm building. “This is America babe; you can’t really be sure of anything here. Back in two ticks” Charity shrugged, with widened eyes. Once inside, she’d got the feeling that she shouldn’t be there, and so she tiptoed carefully along the hallway, afraid that somebody was going to spot her breaking and entering into the most guarded home in America, forgetting momentarily that the magic made her invisible to all, besides those who believed in Santa Claus, and something told her that the armed security protecting the President weren’t likely to believe in the magic of Christmas. “Alright, where to now?” She questioned aloud to herself as she began to get lost amongst corridors filled with giant portraits and expensive looking pottery. When she finally came across a fairly large sized living quarters where a ten-foot tree stood smack bang in the middle of the room, surrounded by golden furniture. Charity pulled a face and let out a slight scoff as she eyed up the huge tree. “Compensating for something hey, Donald?” She said loudly, wishing that Vanessa could have been there with her to laugh along as she carelessly threw the neatly wrapped boxes across the room. Upon the fireplace hung an array of stockings, of which one read ‘The Don’. Charity rolled her eyes in disgust at the, also gold, stocking. “That doesn’t even surprise me” Charity muttered as she stared it down while her pockets grew. Unimpressed by the overly Trumpish decorations, Charity boredly stuffed her hand into her pocket, but was met with a strange texture inside. “Oh, yes” She gasped as she produced a single large lump of coal. “Thank you, Santa,” She laughed as she plopped the coal into the stocking, then wiped her black dirty fingertips into the white fur that ran along the top of it. Before leaving, she spotted milk and cookies on the mantelpiece and decided to punch the chocolate chip cookie, causing it to break into pieces upon its china tea plate, then poured the glass of milk onto the carpet. “Merry Christmas America” She addressed the Nation with a bow before heading back to the sleigh.  
Leaving America far behind them, Charity and Vanessa set off for the UK, where Sarah and Noah should be asleep by now, though they weren’t going to bet the house on it. Flying over the Village filled Charity and Vanessa with a new emotion on this night as they got to see their hometown lit up in warm lights from the sky. The village was quiet. The cafe was in total darkness, and the pub had not long closed up for the night with just one light left on downstairs. All seemed quiet at Jacob’s Fold when they finally arrived home for a quick pit stop. Charity was surprised and pleased to see that the house was clean and tidy with nothing left out of place. Even the dishes had been washed and put away. As an abundance of presents trickled down through the chimney and out of the fireplace behind her, Charity stepped forwards and switched off the television that had been left on, but as she turned, she noticed something she hadn’t expected to see. Asleep, but not in their beds, Sarah and Noah lay across the sofas in the living room. Having not heard from their family for hours, the kids had been worried sick as to where their loved ones were. Upon the coffee table was an opened notebook where one of them had written down the details of the family's flight, alongside a list of reasons why they may be out of contact with home. No signal, flat battery and accident were each circled in red felt tip pen, and caused a searing of emotional pain to erupt in Charity’s heart as she felt an immense guilt for putting them through the stress that they had endured. According to Noah’s notes, their flight had taken off two hours later than their scheduled time and had landed safe and well back in the UK, but Charity and Vanessa had not called to say they had made it home safe with everybody else. “Oh son” Charity mouthed, knowing she shouldn’t wake him while disguised as Santa Claus. As she hesitated, she knelt down and kissed him upon the cheek, before quickly scattering each of their gifts beneath the tree. “I’ll be back before you know it” She whispered, taking one last glance at the teenagers, who looked so peaceful sleeping in their Christmas pyjamas, and yet their minds must have raced with worry.  
Charity found Vanessa again on the roof, but unlike her fiancé, she appeared with a prominent frown that etched across her entire face. Vanessa’s excited smile fell as she noticed the sadness emanating from Charity. “I’ve had enough of this now. I want out, and to go home” Charity told her as she slumped down into the sleigh. Confused at her turn around in emotion, Vanessa asked what had happened to have affected her so much. “While we’ve been flying about here, there, and everywhere, Noah and Sarah have been worried to death because they’ve not heard as much as ‘boo’ from us all day. They think we’ve been in an accident, Babe” She explained with a sadness that she didn’t normally express so freely. Vanessa’s heart sunk as she imagined the kids spending their Christmas Eve worrying about them, and she too felt an urge to give up and stay home, but they couldn’t. With one more continent to go, they had almost finished delivering presents to the whole world, and it would have been a shame to give up now. So, with heavy hearts, they headed off to Europe in the hopes of leaving gifts twice as fast so that they could get back to their family sooner rather than later.  
As always, the people slept in their beds, unaware that their house was being visited by Santa Claus. Millions of children were dreaming of jingling bells and happy reindeers as Charity snuck in and out of their living rooms with piles and piles of gifts. Carelessly, she left presents and drank milk, dragging her feet as she went from house to house, her Christmas spirit at a record low. It wasn’t until they made it to Germany, their last stop of the night, when they ran into real trouble. Flying high over Berlin, the sleigh began to jolt as the reindeers struggled to fly. Pushing hard and trying to force the sleigh to stay up, Charity and Vanessa urged the reindeers to keep pushing as they worried about falling from the sky. “Oh no, we’re going down” Vanessa cried. Holding on tightly to the sleigh, they braced themselves for a bumpy landing. With a thump, the sleigh hit the ground, almost toppling over in the process. The city was quiet, and apart from a few streetlamps, the road itself was in darkness. “Now what?” Charity asked when she finally drew breath enough to speak. Stranded on a backroad in a country where they didn’t speak the language, they tried not to panic. “Alright, stay calm” Vanessa pleaded as Charity’s frustration soared. “Stay calm? We’re in the middle of God knows where, with a sack load of undelivered gifts, and to top it off we have kids on opposite sides of the world with no way to get to them” Charity shouted, her voice echoing loudly across the small street. Trying her best not to lose focus, Vanessa jumped down from the sleigh and paced back and forth from pavement to pavement, racking her brain with questions as to why they had been forced to land. “It can’t be the reindeers, they pushed against landing. I don’t think I did anything wrong” she spoke aloud to herself, and then turned to Charity. “Oh, what so this is my fault?” Charity asked, throwing her arms in the air in defeat. “I didn’t say that'' Vanessa said, pointing her finger at her grumpy fiancé. “Wait a sec” she blurted out as an idea came to mind. “Before we left, Santa told us that the magic only worked if enabled by cheer and joy. You’re in a mood, and this place doesn’t even look like its celebrating Christmas this year-”, “So what you’re getting at is?” Charity interrupted, in a tone that just about confirmed Vanessa’s words. “We need to raise the Christmas spirit and make our own joy” She announced, excitedly and sure of her conclusion. “Alright, so what’s the plan? Shall we hold hands and sing jingle bells? Or how about we knock on some of these doors and tell jokes?” Charity asked, sarcastically. Vanessa furrowed her brows and turned her back on Charity. “You’re not helping” She shouted from over her shoulder. Charity sighed, “Sorry, okay, I just want to go home”, “And so do I” Vanessa replied, facing her again. “So, what should we do?” Charity asked, only this time without any sarcasm. As a minute or so past them by, voices could be heard in the distance, and so they took this as a sign. Running towards the nearing voices, Charity and Vanessa threw caution to the wind and decided it best that they were seen by these people, in the hopes that they could help them get the sleigh going again. They soon learned that the grumbling voices that they could hear from down the road belonged to a group of men who were all leaving a pub that had finally shut its doors for the night. Drunk and disorderly, the men didn’t seem like the type you’d hope to stumble across on an ordinary night, but having no other choice, Charity and Vanessa locked eyes with them as they approached them a few feet away. Not yet knowing what to do, or say, Charity stared down the men who began shouting at them. “Look, it’s Santa Claus, and his little Elf'' One of them called out, laughing slightly at what they could see. “Wait a minute, you’re women'' Another gasped, adding to the laughter as he pointed out his find to his friends. “Very clever” Charity wheezed, clapping her hands and dipping back into her sarcasm. Vanessa spat Charity’s name from behind gritted teeth as she tried to keep the men on side. “Hiya, boys” She added, in as friendly voice as she could summon. The men stopped in their tracks opposite them, each of them swaying from side to side as they attempted to stand up straight without having to prop themselves up against a bin or lamppost. “Look, we could really do with your help” Vanessa told them, hoping they didn’t get too rowdy and aggressive. “Oh yeah? And what can we help you with little elf?” The man in the middle of the pack asked, a little intimidatingly. “You see, our sleigh, won’t start because your town doesn’t have enough Christmas spirit to keep us in the air” Vanessa began, causing Charity to cringe as she expected the fallout of their bizarre and unbelievable story. “Your sleigh?” The same man questioned, with a confused chuckle, much to the amusement of his friends. “Are you telling us you’re Santa Claus, I mean The Santa Claus?” he laughed, almost as heartily as the real Santa himself. “Yeah” Charity barked, already fed up. “But you’re women, and the last time I checked, Santa had a big sack” the middle man replied, causing an uproar of laughter from the others. “Well, I do have a pretty big sack actually, it’s right there” Charity shouted, stepping aside to reveal the giant sack on the back of the sleigh, which thanks to her inviting the men to see it, was now visible, clear as day a few yards away. The men, after laughing at the women's audacity, soon dropped their jaws in shock as they spotted the sleigh and all eight reindeers attached to it. “Well, I wasn’t expecting that” one announced, scratching his head. “I’d be surprised you could drive that thing”, “Why? Because I’m a woman?” Charity asked, defensively. “No, because it doesn’t have any wheels”, “It’s a sleigh, it’s supposed to fly” Vanessa chipped in. “I know, I was only messing with you”, “Well don’t please, this has been a long enough night as it is” Charity spat, folding her arms. “Alright, don’t get your beard in a twist” the man laughed. Charity clenched her eyes, and her fists, tightly, and attempted to talk herself out of punching him in the face, while Vanessa shifted from foot to foot, stuttering out a reply. “Will you please just help us out so we can get on with our job, and then you guys will be free to go home too?” She pleaded. “Okay, what do you want us to do? Give you a push?” another man piped up from towards the back of the group. “Why don’t you come back to mine for the night, we’ll get your sleigh flying in the morning” the main talker of group added. Charity, who had already lost all of her patience, received that comment like a red flag to a bull. And so, in one quick pump, she punched him square in the nose. The man staggered backwards, only staying on his feet because the others managed to break his fall. Vanessa gasped in shock horror at Charity’s actions, and jumped on the spot, covering her face with her hands. “Get your own girlfriend, pal” Charity spat, her head twitching as she jolted herself towards him, showing that she was ready to fight. “Woah” He called out, holding his hands up in surrender. “How was I supposed to know that she was your girlfriend?” He added, eyeing them both up and down. “You weren’t” Vanessa blurted out, trying to keep the situation calm as she stepped in between him and Charity. Charity immediately realised she was going to be in the dog house, and so decided to stay quiet and let her handle them. “I didn’t ask for a black eye for Christmas, but thank you I guess, Santa'' The man joked, so humoured by his own response that he didn’t seem to care that he’d just been punched in the nose. Charity all of a sudden, shivered, as an idea came to mind. “What’s your name?” She asked him. The man looked taken aback. “Why?”, “Just tell me” Charity muttered with a loud sigh as the man wasted time. “Lukas Fischer'' He spoke, a little arrogantly, smirking as he watched Charity rush off towards the sleigh. “Lukas Fischer'' She announced, loudly, and for all to hear as she reached the foot of the sack. As the men stood wondering what she was up to, Charity returned Lukas’ smirk as a gift flew up and out of the sack, slowly, but with magic. As the gift floated down to Charity’s outreached hand. The men watched in silence. “What did you ask for, for Christmas?” Charity asked as she re-joined the group and handed the gift to Lukas. Lukas tilted his head to the side as he studied the neatly wrapped gift in his hands. As if he was embarrassed, Lukas mumbled his reply. “A Yoda dressing gown” He said in a slight whisper. One of his friends huffed out a breath of laughter at his response, while the wrapping paper tore open. As the gift tag fell to the floor, Lukas unfolded and revealed a dressing gown, whereupon the hood bore the face of Yoda. Lukas looked at the gift, and then to Charity. “How did you do that?” he asked, his mind boggled by what he had just witnessed. “Hey, do me next” Another man called out. Vanessa turned to Charity, who now stood with a mischievous grin as she had the men eating from the palm of her hand. Together, all seven of them walked towards the sleigh, where Charity called out the names of each man, providing them with one gift each from the sack. The men tore apart their presents and all were astounded by the magic Charity possessed. Like children, their faces lit up as they showed off their gifts, which included; Hair clippers, a car radio, limited edition trainers, aftershave and an expensive bottle of whiskey. Each man was amazed by the magic, and whether they truly believed it or not, their moods had lifted tremendously and because of that, the Christmas spirit had risen. Vanessa jumped onto the sleigh and checked on a dial upon the controls that showed that they were just over halfway on the gauge. “We just need a little bit more Christmas spirit” She shouted excitedly, so glad that their terrible plan had worked this far. “What else can we do? I don’t think I have anything more impressive than magic to show them” Charity whispered to Vanessa as the men inspected one another's gifts. Vanessa sat back in the sleigh and thought hard for a moment, until a light bulb worthy moment sprang to mind. “We need to sing”, “What? No, I was just kidding back then” Charity panicked, having never been a fan of singing in public. “We have to try,” Vanessa insisted. Charity sighed and groaned but agreed to try. “Okay guys, we just need one last thing from you before we can go,” Vanessa explained, drawing the men's attention once more. “What do you need, little elf” Lukas joked, ready to do whatever it was these weird magical women asked of them. “Just sing along with us, as best as you can” She began. Not really knowing which song to pick, Vanessa began to fluster, until Charity took a deep breath. “We wish you a Merry Christmas” Charity sang, avoiding eye contact. Vanessa smiled and joined in. “We wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New year”. The men, dumbfounded and willing to go with the flow, shrugged and sang out the next part of the song, with Charity and Vanessa. “Good tidings we bring to you and your Kin, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New year” they all sang loudly, with cheer and joy, and with every word, the magic of Christmas spirit powered the sleigh more than enough to rise from the ground. “We did it,” Vanessa squealed. As she grinned, she took Charity’s face in her hands and kissed her forcibly upon the lips, causing the men to cheer and whistle as the reindeers began to run and kick out. “Thank you” Vanessa called down to the men, who started to shrink in size as they rose higher off the ground. “You’re welcome, little elf” Lukas shouted back. “See you later Santa” Another added. And with that, the sleigh disappeared from sight and headed off through the starry night sky.  
After one more German town, Charity and Vanessa finally began their last flight, that would take them back to The North Pole having successfully delivered every gift that had been safely packed into the sack. Just up ahead the glistening lights of Santa’s grotto, lit their way across the snow filled land. “I hope the boys are okay” Vanessa said, giving the reins one last flick. “I hope they behaved” Charity added, more worried that the sugar filled five-year-olds had given Mrs Claus the run around. “Boys will be boys” Vanessa shrugged as they finally touched down into the open barn. “Welcome back” A familiar faced elf cheered, along with two others who jumped up and down at the women's arrival. “You did a great job” the second celebrated, high fiving the third. “Mummy” Two voices called out loudly, followed by fast stomping feet. Johnny and Moses had burst into the barn with Mrs Claus, having had lots of fun playing with toys that the elves had whipped up for them. Both mothers embraced their sons, dropping to their knees to hug and kiss them on their chocolate covered faces. “How did you find it?” Mrs Claus asked cheerily. “Oh, it was a heck of an experience” Vanessa told her, as Mrs Claus led them from the barn and into the warm, fire lit living room, where Santa was sat in the same arm chair they had left him in earlier on, though he did look a lot better seeing him now after having rested. “Welcome back” Santa cried, sitting more upright in his chair as they entered the room after having changed out of their costumes, looking more like themselves in their warm winter clothes. “Never again” Charity said to him, “It was amazing, and terrifying and beautiful, but never again” She added, with a laughter that came out like a wheeze. Vanessa carried Johnny in, who clung to her as if it had been more like weeks since he was able to be in his mother's arms, while Moses ran around in circles; soaring his toy car over and around every piece of furniture in the room. Santa slowly stood, steadying himself as he made it to his feet. “Thank you, both, for doing this. You really have saved Christmas, and me. Next year you both get a free pass to the nice list” He chortled his usual ‘Ho Ho Ho’ laughter. Charity and Vanessa turned to each other; Charity pulled a mischievous face that was soon forced away by a ‘Don’t you dare’ expression from Vanessa. “I won’t” Charity whimpered, “Anyway, it feels good to do good, sometimes” She added just to make it clear that she planned on staying on the straight and narrow from now on. Mrs Claus chuckled from near the fireplace, where she handed the boys one last candy cane. “Don’t worry, they’re sugar free” She whispered to Vanessa. “Right, well, I suppose you want to get off” Santa interrupted as he pulled back his sleeves ready to conjure up some magic for what they all hoped was the last time that night. “Yes please” Vanessa sighed, thinking fondly of her warm bed. Charity took Santa’s magic hat from the top of the pile of clothes and forced it over his head. “Ready when you are” She said, picking Moses up from the ground. “Say bye boys” Vanessa coaxed. Johnny and Moses chirped out a happy goodbye and waved to Santa and Mrs Claus, as Santa cleared his throat. “Thank you so much once again. And Charity, don’t worry, those kids of yours back home won’t remember any of their worries from today. I’ll make sure of that” He said, with a smile that Charity returned. “Alright, let's do this'' He added. “Fly through the skies, Emmerdale Village lies. Past the stars and through a black hole, home you go, to Jacob’s Fold” Santa spoke loud and clear with a thankful tear in his eye as those familiar lights danced down and around them all, sweeping the family up and transporting them through time and back home, safely.

Christmas Morning came around fast, and as Santa promised, Noah and Sarah awoke happy and stress free with the rest of the family as Johnny and Moses burst into each bedroom declaring that ‘Santa came’. Excitedly, Charity and Vanessa peeled themselves away from their bed and stuffed their feet into their slippers before following the kids downstairs where the presents that Charity had left sat beautifully wrapped up beneath the tree. Once the kettle had boiled, they all sat comfortably on the sofa, taking it in turns to rip open their gifts. Noah was chuffed with his bundle of Xbox games, trainers and tracksuits. Sarah’s eyes lit up when she received a new handbag, endless makeup palettes and jewellery, while Johnny and Moses roared with shock and excited giggles as they seemed to unwrap every toy ever made. Vanessa opened her presents after the kids and kissed each of them as she had been given a new designer coat, a laptop and a framed photo of herself and Tracey with their father, Frank. Which just left Charity, who had been wondering what gifts she’d been instructed to leave for herself. Opening each box and package with no clue what was inside, she was happy and thankful for the jewellery, clothes and expensive wine that she had actually written on the bottom of her Christmas list weeks ago. “Hey, there’s one more under here” Noah told as he stretched beneath the tree and pulled out the last box. “Oh, it’s for you two,” Sarah said, reading Charity’s and Vanessa’s names from the little tag. Looking to one another wondering what it could be, they opened the gift that was signed ‘from Santa’. “Ooh” Vanessa gasped, then followed it up with a laugh as they had been given the elf hat and elasticated beard that they had worn all through the night. “What’s that all about?” Noah asked, confused as to what their gift meant. “It means; When in Lapland, knock out an old man and go on an incredible journey” Charity said, causing Vanessa to spit out her tea in laughter. As they giggled to themselves; the kids basked in confusion, not knowing that their Mother's had saved Christmas, for everyone.


End file.
